Tbate - Making A Much Lighter Path

Chapter 43 - Gossip

I locked eyes with Varay as she was turning back into her normal form, the ice enveloping her slowly thawing.

"Good duel, General Arthur," Varay acknowledged, overcoming her shock.

"Good duel, General." I responded, then looked to see everyone else gazing at us with wide eyes.

"It is hard to believe that I was beaten by someone so young. Aya had already beaten me long ago, and now.. I am only the 3rd strongest." the lance admitted.

'It seems like Aleah hasn't made a move yet.' I thought, looking back at the time when I gave her the SS-class beast will I got by fighting mana beasts deep into the beast glades.

Dueling with Varay will allow me to kill two birds with one stone. One purpose of the duel is for me to learn new knowledge and techniques.

However, the more important purpose is the impact this duel towards those around us.

If the Council learns of how strong I was, They will be able to gauge how strong the scythes can be. This may cause some small panic since I already stated that the scythes are even more powerful than I am.

And since the fact that I could be their strongest asset, the council will definitely be more reliant and nicer towards me.

This includes that envious bitch called Blaine.

"I consider that form a borrowed power, not my own," I chuckled, patting the dust off of my clothes. "I thought I mastered ice to a large extent but seeing you today makes me doubt myself."

Varay revealed just the faintest glimmer of a smile before heading toward where my sister and the rest of our audience were.

The duel was amazing, I got to see and learn new ice magic applications just by having a duel with Varay, I particularly am interested towards the Ice armor she and Kathylin uses.

'if I can learn it, I'll be able to create a primordial version of the spell' I thought, I couldn't help but grin.

If I had finished the duel soon just to show off the power gap between me and the supposed strongest lance, I might've never witnessed it.

As soon as we made it back to the group, the elders, Bairon and Virion—who had been exchanging gold coins with each other for reasons unknown—eagerly began bombarding me with suggestions and tips on what I did wrong during my sparring session with Varay.

"Your fire spells are strong but you expended an unnecessary amount of mana for each of them," Hester began.

"That's right," Buhnd chimed in. "And there were many instances where utilizing your earth magic would've been more beneficial, yet you chose to revert back to your comfortable affinities."

My head spun as I tried to keep eye contact with everyone who was talking to me until Alanis spoke up. "Elders. I believe it'd be most beneficial for General Arthur if we spoke one at a time in a more controlled setting."

"I agree," General Virion added. "Let's gather around and examine what our young general did wrong!"

With that, I found myself on a stone chair, graciously erected by Buhn, sitting in circle like a child and his classmates for a group activity. Except my classmates were perhaps some of the most powerful and influential figures in all of this continent.

Ellie and Boo joined us in the circle but remained silent while everyone else began pointing out specific instances in my last fight where there was something better I could've done.

Although, there are also times they praised me.

"Using wind to bolster up your spells was a good idea, your application of it is excellent " Camus explained. "By integrating wind to that fire spear earlier, you created a spinning force to strengthen its piercing power without using that much more mana."